"Another authentic Beijing drama to catch up!"
Written by Wang Zhili and directed and acted by Yu Zhen, the realistic drama "Outside the Drum Tower", which tells the inheritance of carpenters and apprentices in Beijing and the reconciliation of brothers' grievances, is being broadcast on Beijing Satellite TV, with the top three ratings and rave reviews. The original Beijing style and the craftsman spirit of "art is greater than the sky" in the play have deeply touched many viewers.
Why self-directed and self-acting "Outside the Drum Tower"? From the hated "Luo Shibin" to the Beijing carpenter "Yu Zhong", what kind of role transformation has Yu Zhen undergone? In an interview, Yu Zhenchang talked about his feelings about the filming of the Beijing-style drama "Outside the Drum Tower".
Self-directed and self-acting, too difficult
Q: What was the opportunity and reason for you to direct and shoot "Outside the Drum Tower" as a director?
Yu Zhen: I have acted in a play called "My Second Brother and Second Sister-in-Law" before, and I met the famous screenwriter Wang Zhili. When we were filming this scene, we talked a lot. Wang Zhili's teacher Jingwei opera was very well written, so I made an appointment with him, and I said that I was a Beijing actor who grew up in the Drum Tower area. Teacher Wang Zhili decided to write the story of "Outside the Drum Tower".
During the writing of the script, I also became a director for the first time and directed a play called "The Impossible Task". When the script was written, I also had some directing experience - originally I was just acting in this play and wanted to invite other directors to direct this play, but due to scheduling problems, I could not make the trip. Later, I talked to the producer Liu Guohua and the screenwriter Wang Zhili, and they also recognized me and let me try to direct myself.
Q: What is the biggest difference between this play and your previous work?
A: I think "Outside the Drum Tower" is a reflection of the real life of Beijingers like me who grew up in the hutongs on the central axis of Beijing.
I was so familiar with the life of the Drum Tower that I grew up in a large courtyard, where 32 families lived, just like a family. There is something going on in the alley, everyone is word of mouth, and the human touch is particularly strong. In the past few decades, our motherland has changed a lot, and we have watched the rapid development of the country and the city. Therefore, in addition to the development and changes of our motherland and Beijing, we can also see the growth and changes of people.
Q: What are the biggest difficulties and challenges of self-directing and self-acting?
Yu Zhen: Actors are emotional, and actors live in roles. The director is rational, and the director is living in the play. As for me, I live in this drama for a while, and I live in the role of an actor for a while, which is too difficult a challenge.
When you become a director, you have to direct the costumes, makeup, props, photography, art, recording and other departments of the crew, and you must be rationally saying how you should prepare. And the actor does not have to care about these, and he can play his role well. So I jumped in and out, and this show really tested me.
After filming this play, I will no longer direct myself, because I feel that I am deficient in every aspect, I am still a person who pursues perfection, or I direct a play steadily, or I will act in a play in a down-to-earth manner, which are two professions. But this experience was an important creative experience in my life, and I also gained a lot of valuable experience. Although it is hard work, now that I see this work successfully broadcast, my heart is still very sweet.
Sticking to the bottom line is the root of the bell
Q: What do you think about the master brother Yu Zhongsheng, who you played?
Yu Zhen: Yu Zhongsheng is a carpenter-turned-craftsman who lives outside the drum tower and has loved ancient furniture since he was a child. He is a more stuffy person, more recognized by death, and does things one by one. Later, with the development and change of society, his fate also changed, he did a lot of industries, such as roadside pancakes, and then sold eggs, raised ostriches, made a green family industry chain, and then cooperated with others to become a listed company, and the cause was getting bigger and bigger.
But when the career is done very big, he instead finds that everything is gone, love is gone, brotherhood is gone, including family affection is gone, he found that the most important thing in life is emotion, not to see how big your career is, how high your status is. Teacher Wang Zhili wrote this play very well, the characters are written very solidly, and such a character story is quite touching to me.
Q: Compared to Luo Shibin, who played Luo Shibin in "The World of Man", what is the attraction of Yu Zhongsheng?
Yu Zhen: Nails are nails, rivets are rivets, meticulous, no matter what you do, you must do it steadily. When interests conflict with the bottom line they hold, interests must make way for the bottom line. This is the root of the character of Yu Zhongsheng, no matter what industry he does, what he does, this is what he insists on. This kind of spirit is quite rare in the present.
Question: "Outside the Drum Tower" has a lot of golden sentences rich in life philosophy, which are thought-provoking, such as Master Yi Dachuan's saying that "if you fight for a small thing, you will lose the road", how do you see this kind of life charm contained in the play?
Yu Zhen: If you fight for a small thing, you will lose the avenue, this sentence is really too good, which means that if you are preoccupied with some small things and chase the immediate interests too much, you will lose bigger things, lose the avenue, and even trap yourself in it. Nowadays, people are easily confused by what is in front of them and do not know what the root of life is. Yu Zhongsheng is a carpenter, and his original intention is to do a good job in every carpentry work on his hand, and to do his job well and calmly. If you concentrate on doing this well, you will definitely get what you want, instead of doing this and doing that.
There is also an old saying that "it is not advisable to solve the knot", which has been said for many years, but it is too difficult to really do it. In the play, Yin Dongyi, the second disciple played by Hai Day and me, has been fighting and fighting with each other because of hatred, and finally the fight is both defeated and injured, and it ends up empty. Brotherly fighting is a constant occurrence in the present, fighting around, what is gained, what is lost? This is still instructive for us.
Be a carpenter in the play, and "player tools" outside the play
Q: "Outside the Drum Tower" involves a lot of traditional carpentry skills, what preparation should be made to shoot this play?
Yu Zhen: Playing with tools is my biggest hobby. After graduating from Chinese opera, I entered beijing renyi to perform dramas, and later I had the privilege of meeting the great screenwriter Zou Jingzhi, who likes traditional Chinese culture, including old furniture, and he also wrote a lot of plays, through him, I met Teacher Wang Gang again. Therefore, I played with them very early on, which is called "play" in Beijing, and they taught me hand in hand, so that I had some understanding of my hometown.
Almost all of my spare time is spent in the furniture city or the carpentry workshop with Teacher Zou Jingzhi. Start by looking at wood, what kind of wood, what time, what material, and then how to do it? What are the characteristics of Ming and Qing dynasty furniture, and what are the characteristics of the Republic of China? Really fun. I've been sticking to this hobby for so many years, so it's a little accumulation in my usual life.
Q: "Outside the Drum Tower" is a relatively rare work that conveys the carpenter's craftsmanship and carries forward the spirit of the craftsman, can you talk about it in detail?
A: There are many traditional Chinese cultures and crafts, which contain exquisite skills and revered craftsmanship. For example, furniture, porcelain, purple sand, these things are our traditional Chinese craftsmanship, exquisite workmanship, are the world's sought after luxury goods. At present, many large museums abroad have Chinese Ming and Qing dynasty furniture museums.
Choose one thing, for the rest of your life. I think that through "Outside the Drum Tower", we can see what is the spirit of craftsmanship, which may inspire the audience: Am I also so serious about the profession I have done and done a good job with my heart? Even when we shoot scenes, we must be meticulous and down-to-earth to try our best to get every shot, every prop, and costume. "Outside the Drum Tower" requires a lot of rosewood furniture and huanghuali furniture to appear in the camera, and these precious furniture are the real products borrowed by the crew. When returning, we will carefully wrap it in a quilt and then transport it to avoid bumps. This is also a manifestation of the spirit of craftsmanship.